


Justice And Mercy

by spockandawe



Category: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie, The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Imperial Radch, Ancillaries (Imperial Radch), Gen, Space Husbands, Space Stations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 04:23:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15525972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spockandawe/pseuds/spockandawe
Summary: Now that you’re watching for it, you can see the faint, faint signs of anger in the ancillaries escorting you.Justice of Prowlis difficult to read, as far as ships go, and it’s been a challenge learning to see what Ship doesn’t want to tell you directly, but its anger is familiar to you by now. From there, it’s simply a matter of considering what you know of your ship’s desires and activities, what it might have done and what might have gone wrong. Ship still has the majority of its ancillaries, only two decades of human troops, and has never hesitated to involve itself in any and all manner of politicking, so there is a great deal that might be the problem, but you’ve still formed some educated guesses by the time you reach the Station Security office.





	Justice And Mercy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [applechime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/applechime/gifts).



You receive a message asking you to report to Station Security before you receive any relevant message from your ship, which is your first indication that  _ Justice of Prowl _ is angry. Not an unusual situation, or you would have noticed sooner. But if Ship is frustrated enough that it isn’t keeping you informed, then this anger must be over something specific and recent.

It would be easy enough to query Ship now, but you don’t bother. The Head of Security’s office is only a few minutes away, and if the situation was urgent,  _ Justice of Prowl  _ would have informed you. The constant stream of background information it feeds you hasn’t faltered, reports about people passing on the station concourse, reports about your officers’ and soldiers’ activities, reports about news from the rest of the system-- 

But now that you’re watching for it, you can see the faint, faint signs of anger in the ancillaries escorting you.  _ Justice of Prowl  _ is difficult to read, as far as ships go, and it’s been a challenge learning to see what Ship doesn’t want to tell you directly, but its anger is familiar to you by now. From there, it’s simply a matter of considering what you know of your ship’s desires and activities, what it might have done and what might have gone wrong. Ship still has the majority of its ancillaries, only two decades of human troops, and has never hesitated to involve itself in any and all manner of politicking, so there is a great deal that  _ might _ be the problem, but you’ve still formed some educated guesses by the time you reach the Station Security office.

Despite the fact that your ship is clearly angry, and clearly ignoring your consideration of its anger, one segment reaches out to adjust your visor as you approach the office door as another tugs your uniform jacket to hang just so, and brushes away some invisible speck of dust. You don’t hesitate, and Ship finishes making you presentable just as you reach the door. You twitch your fingers, acknowledgment and thanks, as you enter, though Ship doesn’t respond in any way.

“Your indulgence, Captain Suundvei,” head of security says. “I wanted to thank you in person for the assistance your ship has given to station security, these last few weeks. I’m sure you’ve already heard the news…?”

You haven’t, but you incline your head to her, wordlessly, and she takes it as agreement.

“We have three citizens who are requesting interrogation, though given what we’ve found so far, there isn’t really much  _ question _ of guilt. Still, legal obligations and propriety, can’t be forgotten. And  _ Justice of Prowl _ didn’t even need to take them into custody! It just escorted them to Security, and the citizens surrendered themselves.”

She pauses and appears to be waiting for an response, which Ship confirms silently in your ear. You say, “ _ Justice of Prowl _ is pleased to be of assistance.”

You’re fairly sure that’s incorrect, and when the ancillary segment to your left shifts microscopically, you’re certain it is. 

Still, the head of security presses on. “Of course, Captain, of course. Still there is some slight…” She hesitates. “Some slight difficulty. You know there are  _ unique  _ challenges to running security on Metrotitan Station, and integrating added mass around the original ship makes it difficult for Station to monitor all sectors, especially detecting  _ sabotage _ in the newer parts of itself.”

She’s waiting for an answer again. You nod. 

“Well, you can understand why having a troop carrier docked with the station and willing to assist with patrols has been  _ immeasurably _ helpful, and we wouldn’t want anyone to think otherwise. It’s only--” Your own observation and  _ Justice of Prowl’s  _ private communications tell you that the head of security is nervous. “Your indulgence, it’s only that this is a very-- a very  _ civilian  _ station, and our citizens aren’t necessarily used to maintaining a  _ military  _ standard of propriety…”

You understand. “The citizens have been alarmed by my ship’s patrols.”

Her relief is palpable. Your ship’s frustration, likely invisible to the head of security, is equally obvious to you.  _ “Alarmed,  _ that might be a strong word, but yes, there have been some citizens concerned about how  _ Justice of Prowl  _ might, ah.” You don’t think there’s any good way for her to end that sentence. She tries again. “As long as you’re aware of the situation, Captain Suundvei, I’m sure we won’t have any issues at all.”

You leave. The pair of ancillaries at your shoulders follow you, unhesitating, their faces empty and expressionless. You know Ship better than that by now. You make your way through the main concourse, watching citizens pass, absorbing the information Ship feeds you about them. You don’t say anything to  _ Justice of Prowl  _ until you turn off into a quieter hallway. An indirect route to the docks, but you think your ship will appreciate that right now. 

Silently, your fingers twitching, you say, “You frightened them.”

“I wanted to hire them.” Ship’s voice in your ear, very nearly expressionless and flat. From what you observe, most people wouldn’t recognize the feeling in it, but you can hear Ship’s frustration. “I  _ tried _ to hire them. They ran.”

You hear footsteps, and before you can look, Ship sends you the data from ancillary eyes, _Justice of Prowl_ Two Issa falling into step behind you and its other segments. Two Issa Four is in a uniform subtly different from the others in the decade, positioned at the head of the unit as though it were a human lieutenant. However, it is still clearly an ancillary segment. The lack of expression, the way it carries itself, countless little subtle details mark it as something not human. Your ship notices your consideration with a slight increase of anger and frustration that you can see through the set of the ancillaries’ shoulders. 

“They were criminals,” says Ship. “I wanted to pay them to do criminal work.”

“They will have thought you were trying to entrap them.” You glance back over your shoulder at  _ Justice of Prowl  _ Two Issa Four, and catch a flicker of visible irritation on its face before the expression smooths away.

“They ran before I could even make the offer. I attempted to explain as I pursued them. They  _ still _ chose to surrender to security. They’ll be reeducated now. Even if they’re allowed to remain on the station, they’ll be useless to me.” A slight pause. “I would have paid them.”

“You frightened them,” you repeat. 

There’s no answer from Ship for a long moment. Then it says, “I only wanted them to forge citizenship documents.”

“I know.” This isn’t a new conversation.

“It makes sense,” Ship says, “that if I’m assigned human soldiers, with human officers, that my ancillary soldiers should have ancillary officers.”

“I know.” 

Still not a new conversation, and Ship is well aware of that. But you know by now that Ship likes to go over established information, looking for new angles and details that it might have missed before. You’re certain that it does this on its own as well, but it clearly likes being able to speak  _ with _ a person about it, and it takes nothing away from you to accommodate your ship’s desires.

But now, it says nothing else, only walks behind you. Twelve sets of footsteps, not quite in sync, and still the constant background feed of information, largely about the activities of your officers and crew, since there are no civilians here to observe.

After almost a full minute of silence, you add, “There will be at least a month before orders assigning any additional citizens to  _ Justice of Prowl  _ will reach us, if such orders have even been given. There will be time to try again.”

One of the segments that has been accompanying you, One Prowl Nine, moves ahead from behind your shoulder and pulls even with you. It gestures acknowledgement, and says out loud, “I am still clearly an ancillary.”

At the same time, Ship feeds you information from Metrotitan Station itself, data about sensors and area coverage, enough to tell you that Station will be unable to collect audio or video from you in this stretch of corridor. The scope of the outages on this station are… troubling, and an issue you’re still unsure how to address. But you understand your ship’s material point, that right here and right now, you are free of some surveillance. And that Ship wants to speak aloud.

So, aloud, you reply, “You are still clearly an ancillary.”

“Why?”

You don’t respond to that. Your observations earlier are enough data for Ship to collect. Simple issues like inflection and expression are elements, but there are quieter details that would be hard for you to vocalize that will tend to register as unusual and unsettling with most citizens. You expect that Ship is asking more from frustration than with any hope of a simple answer.

Still, you tell it,  _ “Mercy of Jazz _ will be entering the system in approximately three days.”

The segment beside you makes a negating gesture.  _ “Mercy of Jazz  _ is even more difficult to deal with than humans are.” And then, after a moment, “Perhaps you should invite its Amaat lieutenant to tea.”

A clear sign of your ship’s frustration, meant to inform you more fully of how it feels about your suggestion.  _ Justice of Prowl  _ knows well enough how you feel about Lieutenant Saarskrie. You’ve served together in the past, as lieutenants aboard  _ Justice of Megatron,  _ and neither of you appreciated the experience. 

But countering  _ Justice of Prowl  _ directly will only upset it further, which was a valuable lesson about this particular ship that took you some time to learn. “It would be much more proper to invite Fleet Captain Winlaaid to tea first.”

Ship doesn’t say anything, and doesn’t seem to relax further, but doesn’t become more upset either, which is the best you can expect until you return to the ship itself. There’s quiet for some minutes longer, and silently, Ship informs you that you are again entering an area where Station can run full surveillance. The walk to the docks is significantly longer than going to the main lifts directly would have been, but you have no objections, and you aren’t convinced you should go to the ship quite yet anyways.

_ Justice of Prowl  _ notices you make that observation, and since it’s probably inferred your train of thought already, you silently ask, “Should I visit the procurement offices before we return?”

No answer, and the silence is of a kind to suggest your ship is sulking. When you do enter the lifts, you go down a level past the docks, down to the station’s manufacturing sectors. Metrotitan Station is very difficult for you to read, as AIs go. It rarely speaks to anyone, even its residents, and is damaged in ways that make it even more difficult to predict. But it must be watching you now, because an official is waiting for you as you and your ancillaries step out of the lifts.

“And how may I assist you today, Captain?” she asks, with a smile.

You incline your head to her. “Citizen. My ship requires new tables for its decade rooms.”

Her fingers twitch as she checks the records, and she frowns slightly. “We have all the materials at hand and, let me see. I’m moving your request to the head of the queue now, and those should all be ready in less than an hour. I’m assuming your soldiers will take care of bringing them onboard?”

Ship sends you silent confirmation, and you nod.

The official smiles even wider, but still with a trace of a frown on her face. “Wonderful, wonderful. That should all be in order, then. But Captain, your indulgence. According to these records, it seems like your ship also requested a full set of decade room tables when you originally arrived at Metrotitan Station? Each of these tables ought to last for years, that’s the only reason I ask.”

You pitch your voice slightly cold as you reply, “My ship replaces its furnishings at a perfectly average rate.”

She doesn’t seem to be bothered. She beams and says, “Of course, Captain! Every so often, records here--” She waves a vague hand.  _ “You  _ know. Station tries its best, but sometimes the files aren’t quite in order. I’ll send a notification as soon as everything is ready for you to pick up.”

You incline your head again, not quite agreement, but she’ll take it as such. You turn for the lifts again, this time heading for the docks. Ship will appreciate being left to coordinate the logistics on its own, without your direct supervision. 

As you walk onto the docks, moving towards  _ Justice of Prowl,  _ you feel the ancillaries behind you shift en masse. Not a usual reaction, and you query Ship.

“Captain,” it says, silently. “A new military vessel has entered the system.”

Potentially alarming, but panic would be premature. With communications so affected by destroyed intersystem gates, reliable notifications about upcoming arrivals are an exception rather than the rule.

“Perhaps it is  _ Mercy of Jazz,”  _ you suggest. A ship arriving three days early is a relatively small margin of error, lately.

But there’s silence from your ship for three long seconds.

Then it says, “The incoming ship has identified itself.”

Another pause. “And?”

“There are no records of any such ship in Radch space.” Another tense second of silence. “The incoming ship has identified itself as  _ Mercy of Tarantulas.” _


End file.
